Japan's Diet enacts antismoking law amid doubt about effectiveness

The Diet on Wednesday enacted legislation to ban smoking inside buildings, but relaxed requirements for exemptions have led critics to doubt its effectiveness.The revised Health Promotion Law will be fully enforced in April 2020, ahead of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics starting in July of that year. Japan is rated poorly for its tobacco control policies by the World Health Organization.The revision bill cleared the House of Councillors, backed by ruling party and some opposition lawmakers, following its passage in the House of Representatives last month.The law will first ban indoor smo…READ FULL ARTICLE